Big Trouble, Right Here in Centerville

It took me just over four weeks to get around to it, but I finally saw my siblings Steve and Biz and their fellow castmates put on the great American musical The Music Man at Rodgers Memorial Theater earlier tonight - on closing night, no less.

The fact that I am related to two of the cast members may make me a bit biased, but I enjoyed the performance a great deal.

Steve played Oliver Hix, a member of the River City school board and barbershop quartet, while Biz (hand-picked for the part by the director, no less) had much of the comic relief in the role of Ethel Toffelmeier, aka Marcellus Washburn's "Shipoopi." There were a handful of other familiar faces among the cast, to boot, including Jan Davis, my My Fair Lady director at RMT, who played the lead role of Professor Harold Hill.



Before tonight, I had previously seen The Music Man performed live on stage only once before - and Steve was part of that production, too. As a high school junior, he played the pivotal role of "River City Dancer #4."

Tonight's performance was no less entertaining than the one I saw at Bountiful High School 11 years ago. Familiar showtunes such as "Seventy-six Trombones," "Pickalittle (Talk-a-Little)," "Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You?", "Marian the Librarian," and, of course, "Shipoopi" were interspersed with many comic moments.

The good people at Rodgers never disappoint, and that endorsement has nothing at all to do with the fact that they also sign my Improv paychecks.